Schedler sexual harassment settlement nearing end

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - The out-of-court settlement in the sexual harassment lawsuit against former Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler is nearing an end.

Lawyers representing the state of Louisiana and Schedler signed the necessary paperwork this week that informs the presiding judge in the case that a settlement has been reached.

Once that paperwork is approved by the presiding judge and the case is officially dismissed, the state will pay out the settlement. The amount of the settlement has not yet been made public. However, a source familiar with the case says the agreement calls for Schedler to have to personally pay a portion of the settlement dollars.

A female employee who worked in the Secretary of State’s office for more than a decade sued Schedler for sexual harassment last February. The woman accused Schedler of making unwanted sexual advances, keeping watch over her home, and trailing her boyfriend’s movements.

Prominent Baton Rouge Attorney Jill Craft represents the female employee who filed suit. The woman claims she was retaliated against when she told Schedler she was not interested, Craft said at the time the lawsuit was filed. She also claims Schedler also ordered Secretary of State security personnel to monitor the female employee’s whereabouts.

“The sense that I have from my client is that she had tried to handle what are clearly unwanted attention and affection from this man for years," Craft said last February.

Schedler, who resigned from office after the scandal broke earlier this year, denied he sexually harassed the woman and claimed the two had a “consensual sexual relationship.”

“I leave the office with a heavy heart knowing I have disappointed the people in my life who care for me the most,” Schedler said in his resignation letter. “But I have also experienced from them the miraculous power of forgiveness and grace during the twilight of my career, and for that I am grateful.”

Josh Auzenne

Parents of students attending Advantage Charter Academy are fuming Friday night after being told their kids will be held back and will need to attend a 16-day summer school program in order to advance to the next grade.